Best Bird of the Weekend (Second of February 2011)

Another weekend, another missed opportunity to fill my feeders. If only the mountains of snow in the way weren’t so high! Instead, this weekend found me admiring the understated adaptability of Mourning Doves. Zenaida species doves remind me of the main character in The Big Lebowski. These birds may be placid, but like the Dude, they abide. Corey’s BBOTW was easily the Western Tanager out in Suffolk County, Long Island, though he could easily have chosen any of the four King Eider, two Iceland Gulls, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, dozens of Razorbills, Ring-necked Pheasant, or other birds and been pretty darn happy about it!

What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.

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Hmmmmmm, best bird of the weekend? There were no really colourful birds that would have stood out but perhaps the Cuckoofinch would rate high because they are not so easy to find or the Black Kite which is new for the year and area or perhaps the juvenile Lanner which is also new to the area for me anyway. Had a relaxing mornings birding anyway!http://www.thelazybirder.blogspot.com

@Gareth: Cuckoofinch is amazing! And that pipit … nice pictures, but I won’t even try. 😉

My best bird of the weekend. Let’s see. Long-tailed tits and Hawfinches don’t impress Corey anymore, and judging by Mike’s tale in the intorduction, hardly anything does anymore. So here goes:
My BBOTW was a Rose-ringed Parakeet perched on top of a large spruce tree in the cold and frosty morning mist. Alien invasives from completely different ecosystems are bizarre.

Best bird was a flock of Cedar Waxwings. I had gone out in search of the Bohemians that had been reported but could not find them, except that is for brief glance at a passing flock.http://tinyurl.com/6c86jy4

This weekend was all about juvenile Bald Eagles——flying over the ramp to Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, NY; perched high up in a tree over the nature center and then taking off to the wonderment of the humans below; soaring over Route 9A on the drive home.

The best of the bunch was a second-year eagle eating a fish on an ice floe in the Hudson, mostly oblivious to the jealous Greater Black-Backed Gull nearby. Yay eagles!!

Western Tanager in February-Wow! Down here in Costa Rica, I had some great birds at Quebrada Gonzalez, Braulio Carrillo National Park thanks to an antswarm. Ocellated Antbirds are hard to beat but I think that they were trumped by the excellent looks we got of Black-crowned Antpitta.